Open reel, reel to reel, or 9 track tape as it was referred to many years ago, included 9 physical data/recording tracks on half an inch of tape. Today's tape technology has advanced to provide over a thousand data tracks on the most predominantly used half inch tapes. In addition, the tape includes what is known as a ‘servo’ track. This is a magnetic frequency strip installed on the full length of each tape and the intention of the servo track is to keep the drive head in line with the data tracks that it is writing to, during use.
Often the data recorded onto tape is confidential in nature and therefore, when this data is no longer required, the tapes cannot simply be discarded as normal waste. In addition, due to data protection requirements and the like, it is more secure to erase the data on the tapes prior to the disposal of the tapes rather than relying on the disposal into landfill as being sufficient to protect the privacy of the data.
To remove already recorded data from a tape, it is necessary to apply a strong magnetic field to the tape—this is known in the industry as ‘degaussing’. However, one of the disadvantages of data removal using strong magnetic fields is that it is non-track specific and the servo track is erased along with the recorded data. As the servo track is essential to the functionality of the tape, it renders the tape non-reusable. This presents the expensive situation where every recording operation requires the use of a new tape and tapes cannot be recycled after the erase process has taken place.
However, particularly when an organisation has a large requirement for tapes for data recordal, for example in the financial sector where data recordal is a regulated and required function, the constant need to buy new tapes is very expensive. There is a need for an efficient erasing process that effectively erases previously recorded data without damaging the servo track so that the tapes may be re-used.
The present invention seeks to address the problems of the prior art.